MURPHY OFF CASE INVOLVING ABDUCTION

A judge Thursday removed Cook County Public Guardian Patrick Murphy as the attorney for Alese Reichart, the teenager at the center of a child-abduction case.

The move came a week after Murphy asked to withdraw, saying the case had reached a standstill and was becoming a drain on public resources. However, Murphy had hoped first to get a hearing at which a psychiatrist would testify.

But Circuit Judge Karen Shields granted Murphy's motion to withdraw before the hearing could be held, after attorneys for Reichart's mother, Joli Taylor, sought to have him removed immediately.

Taylor's attorneys and Murphy had battled nearly every step of the way since Reichart was returned to Chicago in December after she and her mother were discovered living under assumed names in Tucson.

Shields was expected to appoint an outside attorney for Reichart, 15. Diane Panos, one of Taylor's attorneys, said she was euphoric with the judge's decision, saying Murphy's contentious style and inability to negotiate bogged down the case.

"We perceive him as being an obstructionist," Panos said.

Panos said that during Thursday's hearing before the judge Murphy used a four-letter word during an exchange with Elsie Holzwarth, the attorney for Reichart's father.

Afterward Murphy said he apologized, adding, "I shouldn't have said that four-letter word."

Murphy downplayed the battles between him and Taylor's attorneys, saying they each were representing their clients. Citing the time and $40,000 the case has cost his office, along with the lack of resolution, Murphy said, "I wouldn't want to get involved in a case like this again."

Taylor allegedly abducted Reichart from Midlothian in 1991, shortly after divorcing the girl's father, Michael Reichart, 49, of Arlington Heights. After Taylor and her daughter were discovered in Arizona, Taylor was arrested and came back to Cook County, where she is charged with one count of child abduction, a felony.

Shortly after Reichart and Taylor were discovered, Murphy's office flew to Arizona and brought the girl back. Murphy had been appointed the girl's attorney and guardian in the early 1990s, during her mother's divorce case.

With Murphy out, Panos said she and Taylor look forward to working with a new lawyer to negotiate where Reichart will live. The teenager is living in Chicago with a social worker under an arrangement crafted by Murphy's office.

Panos said she hopes all sides can agree on a more permanent living arrangement for Reichart before the school year ends. The girl wants to return to Arizona, but Panos could not say whether that option was on the immediate horizon.

Reichart's father has said he would not support his daughter's returning to Arizona in the near future.

Michael Reichart said Thursday that Murphy's withdrawal would not necessarily change the case.

He said, "[Murphy] had his way of wanting to get through this. You could say the same about Panos" and Nancy Donlon, a lawyer who also represents Taylor. "I think they've been obstructionist."